24 hours of awesome

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The two marquee games of the annual ESPN Tip-Off Marathon are so good, they should be treated as some sort of reward.

Y’know, something along the lines of this: To be able to watch college basketball’s No. 1 vs. No. 2 (Kentucky-Michigan State) and No. 4 vs. No. 5 (Duke-Kansas), you should have to collect at least three codes while watching the other 16 good-to-great games on the marathon schedule. The two Champions Classic games, which will be played at the United Center in Chicago on November 12, will feature more than a dozen potential first-round picks. And that’s a conservative guess.

The 18-game slate—which includes two outstanding women’s showdowns (No. 4 Stanford at No. 1 Connecticut and No. 3 Tennessee at No. 7 North Carolina) on Monday night—kicks off on Monday evening with Kent State at Temple at 7 p.m.

Need to know: This one’s all about the headlining freshmen, Kansas’ Andrew Wiggins against Duke’s Jabari Parker. Of course, both teams have plenty of other talented players—Duke has the advantage in that aspect—but the focus, at least early in the game, will be those two guys. Should be a great marathon capper.

Need to know: This one’s mostly about the Kentucky freshmen (Julius Randle, James Young, the Harrison twins), against the returning Michigan State stars (Gary Harris, Adreian Payne, etc). And, of course, two coaches (Tom Izzo and John Calipari) who know a thing or two about preparing their players for the big, bright stage.

Need to know: Shaka Smart and his VCU Rams have owned the state of Virginia the past few seasons, but Cavaliers coach Tony Bennett has a veteran squad—led by seniors Joe Harris and Akil Mitchell—and home-court advantage in this showdown. All eyes will be on the referees in this game, to see how the new points of officiating emphasis will impact an aggressive defensive team like VCU.

Need to know: This game promises more drama than actual possessions—Florida was 294th last year in adjusted tempo and Wisconsin was 318th (according to KenPom.com)—and that’s OK. Like the VCU-Virginia game, though, it’s a bit of a shame this contest is going up against one of the great showdowns of this year’s nonconference schedule.

Need to know: Coming off their thrilling run to the 2013 Final Four, how excited are Wichita State’s fans for this season? Sporting News’ college basketball preview magazine featuring Shockers star Cleanthony Early on a regional cover sold out in record time thanks to web and phone orders (there are still copies on newsstands, if you’re at the right location in Kansas or Missouri).

Need to know: When March rolls around, the winner of this game will be thankful to have this one in their “deserves an at-large bid” column. BYU sharpshooter Tyler Haws, who averaged 27.8 points per game in the Cougars’ run to the NIT semifinals last spring, will use this game to reintroduce himself on the national landscape.

Need to know: Both of these teams lost their star players from the 2012-13 season—Akron big man Zeke Marshall and St. Mary’s point guard Matthew Dellavedova are playing pro ball now—but both squads have visions of return trips to the NCAA Tournament. Might as well kick off those journeys with a midnight start on the West Coast, right?

Need to know: Not to continually harp on the players who have gone, but it’s a big story in this game. Colorado State lost all five senior starters from last year’s team, and the Zags lost big men Kelly Olynyk and Elias Harris. Gonzaga’s still ranked, though, because there’s a ton of talent, starting with one of the best backcourts in the country in Gary Bell, Jr. and Kevin Pangos.

Need to know: These two teams have a similar profile, in that they have an established star and lots of young players around him. For Cincinnati, it’s guard Sean Kilpatrick (17.0 ppg last year). For N.C. State, it’s big man T.J. Warren (12.4 ppg last year). Might be safer to expect more effort than execution from these teams so early in the season.

Need to know: It’s the return of Dunk City. Florida Gulf Coast has a new coach in former Kansas assistant Joe Dooley—Andy Enfield took over the Southern California gig—but the Eagles have plenty of returning players from that Sweet 16 squad, including point guard Brett Comer. A cascade of alley-oops will go well with breakfast.